1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable screen that is installed in the opening portion of a building for the purpose of insect-proofing, light-shielding, heat insulation, and as a blind, and specifically relates to an improved retractable screen device wherein, by cutting edge portions for the upper and lower frame material and the right and left side frames in an arbitrary length, and using corresponding corner linking material to link these together, the dimensions can be easily made to fit the opening portion of a building even if the user is not well-practiced in this skill.
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, retractable screen devices have been widely known that are installed in an opening portion of a building for the purpose of insect-proofing, light-shielding, heat insulation, shading, and so forth. In the case of installing such retractable screen devices in the opening portion of a building, the screen frame needs to be of the dimensions that fit with the size of the opening, and this dimension fitting is performed by cutting the upper and lower frame material and the left and right side frames in the necessary length corresponding to the aforementioned opening portion dimensions, and linking the edge portions of the upper and lower frame material and the left and right side frames with corresponding corner linking material.
However, if the dimension fitting is only for this type of screen frame, the user and others can perform this relatively easily, and therefore the necessary materials and parts can be sold as a set, but in the case of a screen device that comprises a winding mechanism wherein the screen is wound on to a winding shaft using a spring for winding, the assembly of the winding mechanism is not necessarily simple, and also latter-described problems may occur, and therefore the user must either obtain a product that fits the dimensions of the building opening portion, or hire a professional worker for the dimension adjustment work.
In other words, with the screen device described above which enables dimension fitting, the upper and lower frame material is shortened according to the width of the building opening portion, and the length of the screen to be pulled out is shortened accordingly, resulting in not only the necessity to adjust the strength of the winding spring, but the remaining screen is in the state of being wound on the winding shaft even in the state wherein the screen is spread over the screen frame, and therefore the screen can bend widely due to the wind or other external forces, and it becomes necessary to consider countermeasures.
In particular, in the case that a winding shaft is provided on the left and right side frames and the screen is open both on the left and right sides, the winding shaft that winds each screen has an additional screen wound onto it, and therefore in the case of pulling out each screen to spread them, only enough screen to cover half of the building opening width needs to be pulled out, but because of the additional allowance in the length of the screen, the screen can possibly be pulled out further than the pullout limit, and a countermeasure becomes necessary, such as the user keeping this in mind at the time of use, or providing a stopper to set the pullout limit.
Further, in the case that the length of the screen has an additional allowance and the screen is pulled out more than necessary due to an external force such as the wind and bends widely, the upper and lower edges of the screen can be derailed from the guide grooves of the upper and lower frame, and if the screen is wound onto the winding shaft in this state, one portion of the screen is over the guide groove wall, and so from this portion on is wound in a wrinkled state and opening and closing of the screen thereafter is not smooth. Therefore, the appropriate setting of the above-described screen unwinding limit is important, but even with such settings the upper and lower edges of the screen may be derailed from the guide grooves, and therefore consideration is necessary for the screen to be wound smoothly even in the case of derailing.